The Sacramento Kings were expected to fire head coach George Karl within the next couple of days and there were even reports of who the interim head coach would be. In a huge surprise move though, the Kings have decided to retain Karl as the head coach and he is expected to stay on board for the rest of the season, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.
It has been the worst kept secret in the NBA over the past week or so that Karl was as good as gone but after a lengthy meeting with GM Vlade Divac, Karl was given another life. The biggest talking point in the meeting was how the Kings need to improve on defense, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports, and apparently Karl was convincing enough to allow himself a longer leash.
Karl will now likely get the rest of the year to show improvement with this talented team and if he is unable to do so the Kings will likely revisit his position once again. This entire situation has not been a great look for the Kings and their organization as it seemed they were just stringing Karl along. Now that they are keeping him it still looks bad because the media had already made it seem like he was a goner.
This is the second time Karl has almost lost his job this season and it seems as though his entire tenure in Sacramento will be spent on the hot seat. Karl still has about $10 million guaranteed left on his original four year $15 million deal with the Kings.
Divac's statement about Karl remaining the coach was very blunt. "George is our coach and we're collectively working through our issues," said Divac. Sorry Corliss Williamson but you're going to have to wait for your first head coaching gig in the NBA.
